


you're gonna carry that weight

by ObscureReference



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Angst, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 06:36:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13781826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObscureReference/pseuds/ObscureReference
Summary: “Thought it was a Risen attack,” Owain mumbled, repeating himself. “Didn’t know where it was coming from.”Didn’t want Brady drawing attention to themselves with his voice, Owain meant. Didn’t want an axe or a sword or an arrow to slice through the very thin canvas of their tent and hit Brady while they were defenseless, he didn’t say. Didn’t want Brady without a shield. So Owain had killed two birds with one stone by shielding Brady instead.It wasn’t the first time Owain had done this. Brady sighed. His heart ached.





	you're gonna carry that weight

**Author's Note:**

> Me, trying to write several different Fates fics for the past few weeks: Mmmmmmm
> 
> Also me, spitting this out in literally 15 minutes: how
> 
> I love Owain and Brady, and I love angst. I've never seen Cowboy Bebop, but you're probably just as familiar with the title as I am. I'm very sleepy posting this so feel free to point out any mistakes you see! Thanks for reading!

There was a clamor outside the tent, and Brady’s eyes snapped open before he had even registered what he was hearing.  He reached out blindly, searching for his staff, the darkness everything but a friend.

“Wha— _Shit_.”

Owain’s familiar heavy weight settled on his chest, his stomach, his legs, covering every inch Brady that he could reach. His sudden weight knocked the air from Brady’s lungs. Owain's swift, calloused hand over Brady’s mouth forced Brady to swallow the rest of his words on instinct. It was too dark to make out anything but curve of Owain's nose, the vague blob of his face, but Brady could definitely feel Owain’s breath on his cheek. They laid there, frozen, ears straining for more sound.

_“Way to go, moron_ ,” Severa hissed from somewhere not too far away. _“Why don’t you just wake up half the camp while you’re at it?”_

_“You were the one who—”_ That was Inigo, sounding annoyed and raspy and unhurt.

_“Shh!”_

Their voices trialed off. Seconds ticked by.

Owain went slack above him. The tension bled out him like liquid from a broken waterskin, and he practically collapsed on top of Brady, his forehead pressed against the juncture of Brady’s neck. His hand slipped off Brady’s mouth and fell somewhere to the side. Everywhere Owain’s bare skin touched Brady’s felt scalding. Brady shuddered.

Slowly, Brady reached up and pressed his rough palm to Owain’s back. He may have been shaking with adrenaline. It also may have been Owain. He couldn’t tell. He could only feel the wild stuttering of his heart against his ribcage and the tip of Owain’s cold nose pressed into his neck. Owain’s nose was always cold, no matter how hot the rest of him ran.

It was a long time before either of them spoke, but eventually Owain said, “I thought that was a Risen attack.”

He could feel the movement of Owain’s lips against his skin when he spoke. It wouldn’t have been the first time the Risen had found their camp in the dead of night, but the last time had nearly killed them. Brady closed his eyes and struggled to breathe evenly.

“Me too,” he said, his voice gruff with sleep. He felt wide awake now, too wired to fall back asleep immediately, but his body ached with exhaustion. Owain had practically pinned him to the ground with his weight. Brady had no chance of pushing him off even if he wanted to. “Don’t you know how heavy you are? Move it or lose it.”

“Sorry,” Owain said. He didn’t move. Brady didn’t lift his hand from Owain’s back. He wished very much to see Owain’s face, but it would have been practically impossible without a light, even if Owain did adjust their positions.

They breathed asynchronously and listened to the now quiet night air.

Eventually, Brady whispered, “Why’d ya roll on top of me?”

He didn’t know why he whispered. To keep the other tents from hearing, probably. But as soon as he did, the tension in the air grew tenfold. Brady wished he had pretended to sleep like everyone else apparently had

“Thought it was a Risen attack,” Owain mumbled, repeating himself. “Didn’t know where it was coming from.”

Didn’t want Brady drawing attention to themselves with his voice, Owain meant. Didn’t want an axe or a sword or an arrow to slice through the very thin canvas of their tent and hit Brady while they were defenseless, he didn’t say. Didn’t want Brady without a shield. So Owain had killed two birds with one stone by shielding Brady with his body instead.

It wasn’t the first time Owain had done this. Brady sighed. His heart ached.

Owain had to have heard the sigh, had to have felt the rumble of Brady’s chest against his own, but he made no movement to indicate he had. He laid where he was, careless of Brady’s constrained lungs or the fact his first instinct had been to make himself a human shield only moments ago. For all Brady knew, Owain fallen asleep again.

It was a warm night, but Owain had kept his shirt on, despite the holes and the dirt. Brady lifted his other arm and wrapped that around Owain’s waist too, pulling him even closer, welcoming the crushing weight of their bodies pressed together. Owain’s crushing weight, at least. Even if their positions were flipped, Brady was sure he weighed about as much as a newborn kitten.

That thought brought the image of an actual newborn kitten to mind. It mewled in Brady's mind, weak and pathetic and vulnerable. Brady’s face felt hot at the image. He felt foolish for thinking about something so sentimental when mere moments ago they had both believed they would have to fight for their lives, but what did the timing matter anyway? It wasn’t like Brady could make a difference in a fight in the first place. Owain would have been the one to take up his sword while Brady hung around in the background, practically useless, waiting for everyone else to do all the hard work before he could bandage a few bruises and scrapes they could probably take care of on their own anyway.

If the image of the cat hadn’t already had Brady tearing up, that thought certainly did. Brady sniffed, trying his best to suppress the shakiness that came with crying, but there was no way to stop Owain from hearing the catch in his breath. Not this close.

Owain peeled his face away from Brady’s neck and looked at him. Presumably, at least. Brady’s vision was a bit blurry and Owain’s dark eyes were near impossible to make out in the lack of light anyway.

“Shh,” Owain whispered, a softer mimic of Severa. He placed chaste kisses against Brady’s jaw, his fingers doing their best to tangle themselves in Brady’s short hair. “We’re fine. Severa and Inigo are on watch. There’s nothing out there but empty shadows and our allies.”

Brady tightened his grip on the back of Owain’s shirt.

“I ain’t afraid,” he lied. He was afraid of a lot of things, but the Risen weren’t at the top of his list. Not now, at least. Not really. Only partially.

Owain breathed in and out.

“I ain’t,” Brady said again.

Owain said, “I know.”

The night was devoid of crickets and neither of them were quite shaking anymore, but it was near thing. Brady dug his fingers into Owain’s back.

Owain’s lips pressed themselves to the shell of Brady’s ear. He weighed heavily on Brady’s chest.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave a comment below or hit me up on my [tumblr!](http://someobscurereference.tumblr.com/) I get a lot of FE14 meta and fic related asks there, so feel free to browse through my "asks" or "fe14" tag for some extra stuff from me and your fellow readers you may not see over here. Or send in a question of your own if you had one. Thanks for reading!


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